Sorry for derailing these thread I made a interconnect cable awhile back(Mogami 2534 and ViabluNF-A7)and did not try to swap them around doing a comparison between the two using Q701until today and let me till you even just simple cable changed the Q701 will sound defirent. on Mogami the Q701 sound a little BRIGHT to my liking and on Viablu very nice and smooth.that being said i'm still not crazy to spend hundreds or thousands of $ on cable.IMHO the Mogami cable is more detailed than Viablu cable.

mine Q701 arrived today from amazon. Made in China. Series number 103xxxx. Dont feel to mod it until my mind recognise it original sound signature. Cable management is become like a long hair girl and have to care it daily ...LOL.

mine Q701 arrived today from amazon. Made in China. Series number 103xxxx. Dont feel to mod it until my mind recognise it original sound signature. Cable management is become like a long hair girl and have to care it daily ...LOL.

I've had my bass modded version stock for probably 2 weeks now. It's so much better than modded!! Just kidding!

Stock still sounds great and it's not like the mod suddenly makes stock sound like garbage. I could live with either of them.

I haven't went back to the modded version yet since I've been way too lazy lately.

I did however listen to the Q701 for about 3-4 hours last night with music while playing games.

I've found that I like them a lot more with the O2 when I swap out the op-amps with something different.

Right now i'm using the OPA2227 ($4 each or around that). I'm still testing things but I think it might be a bit too warm with my HD-650 and DJ100, but sounds perfect with the Q701.

I also ordered some more op-amps to try out. I know i'm a fan of the OPA2134 in the Micro Amp, M-Stage and E9. It's also in the iFi iCAN.

Oh and I finally realized my old Cowon Iaudio 7 is pretty dang good when connected to an external amp (I usually hate doing that). It uses a Wolfson chipset and sounds better than my Sansa Clip+ with rockbox.

With the O2? Only difference really is that the Q701 sounds very very slightly fuller sounding. A little smoother sounding and maybe not as revealing.

Perhaps a little less trebly (than how it normally sounds with the O2) and closer to how it sounds on the Micro Amp and Ifi iCAN (which is very good).

Of course the measurements would be identical.

I was actually surprised how much the O2 could change it's overall tone with just an opamp. Not like night and day at all though.

I ordered some LM4562NA/NOPB op amps and will see how those go. Mouser doesn't sell those but Digikey does.

I don't use my O2 much, so it's kind of fun to do these cheap side-grades to see what happens.

O2 to my ears seems to sound best stock with the HD-650 and DJ100 with M50 pads. Stock i'm not a huge fan of the O2 + Q701 unless I have a warmer sounding source.

It's not bad though and good. Modi/ODAC and O2 is kind of not my favorite combo. The worst combo so far as been the Ipod Touch 2G docked to O2. Totally way too thin and tinny sounding and the Q701 is usually never like that ever.

BTW I wanted some OPA627 op-amps but they're $34 EACH! Yikes! They're also only single channel so it'd be quite expensive. Apparently there is not a major difference between those and the OPA2134.

The Q701 seems to love anything with the OPA2134. It seems they're one of the most common op-amps in headphone amps.

I was kinda hoping there wasn't a big improvement. My money's tied up buying CD's again.

O/T - I can't believe how good my HD 650's are for metal. I knew they were going to be good for jazz & folk (it's why I bought them) but nobody told me they were good with the likes of Megaherz, Oomph & Eisbrecher.

Holy S***! I don't think I truly appreciated my Fidelio X1s until I listened to these recordings. You really get a sense of what imaging should be in seeing the placement of the players relative to their position in your head. Amazing!! A bit more even in my SR80s but great recordings either way. There are some K712 Pros in my future, excited to see what these are all about.

I have q701 and NAD 3020 and it sounds as a tube amp with soundstage and liquid sound. I love it. I'm listen jazz now.

For the money, the D3020 sounds like a very versatile choice as a headphone amp, lots of power, a built in DAC, great form factor, and as you point out, great sound...

There is a big difference between the (original) 3020 (a late 1970s amplifier, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAD_3020) and a D3020 (a new class-D amplifier). Let us be careful. I think HeavenNotes is referring to the 3020.

I might have to try the Q701 after reading this. I had some K702 for the longest time, but never really found them pleasant (not enough low end for me.) It sounds like the Q701 might be just the improvement I was looking for. I've got some HD800 but I don't like to use them ALL the time :) I feel as though the AKGs are very amp dependent. If you don't have a good amp then they'll never be anything spectacular, but once you find the right one!!

I might have to try the Q701 after reading this. I had some K702 for the longest time, but never really found them pleasant (not enough low end for me.) It sounds like the Q701 might be just the improvement I was looking for. I've got some HD800 but I don't like to use them ALL the time :) I feel as though the AKGs are very amp dependent. If you don't have a good amp then they'll never be anything spectacular, but once you find the right one!!

My understanding is that the Q701 and K702 are basically the same thing. I don't think you'll be hearing any difference. Can you do the bass port mod on the K702? Have you tried the K712/Annie pads on the K702?

My understanding is that the Q701 and K702 are basically the same thing. I don't think you'll be hearing any difference. Can you do the bass port mod on the K702? Have you tried the K712/Annie pads on the K702?

Oh, yeah after doing a little research I don't really think they changed anything. I remember reading the K701 vs K702 threads as well where I thought they were slightly misleading. However I didn't even notice the K712 came out. Going to have to look into those. Maybe I'll just get some K712 instead. I got rid of my K702 a while ago after hearing/purchasing the HD800s otherwise I'd give the bass mod a shot. Thanks for the info!!!

There is a big difference between the (original) 3020 (a late 1970s amplifier, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAD_3020) and a D3020 (a new class-D amplifier). Let us be careful. I think HeavenNotes is referring to the 3020.